Kunlun Red Star - SKA - 3:2

In a must-win game, SKA contrived to concede a shock defeat to Kunlun Red Star in Saint Petersburg, coming up short 2:3 to consequently lose all hope of winning the 2023/2024 KHL regular season.

As a consequence of this result, SKA have now been resigned to second place in the standings. This match was staged at the SKA Arena due to the Arena Mytishchi in Moscow Region being used for a different event.

To the surprise of many, Kunlun opened up what turned out to be a decisive three-goal lead within the maiden 40 minutes as Colin Campbell, Devin Brosseau and Spencer Foo all got the better of Nikita Serebryakov.

Our players did subsequently provide a response, with Borna Rendulic netting when clean through and Alexander Nikishin hitting the jackpot on the powerplay.

However, despite SKA continuing to apply heavy pressure on Kunlun, the equaliser failed to materialise as the visitors held on.

SKA will now prepare to face either CSKA Moscow or Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the first round of the Gagarin Cup playoffs. Game one will be held in Saint Petersburg on Friday, with puck-drop scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

Kunlun Red Star - SKA - 3:2 (0:0, 2:0, 1:2)

Goals:

1:0 Campbell, 20.14

2:0 Brosseau (Kane, Moyle), 36.27

3:0 S. Foo (P. Foo), 40.13

3:1 Rendulic (Nikishin, Sapego), 47.24

3:2 Nikishin (Tolchinsky), 53.49 PPG

Goalkeepers: Lazushin - Serebryakov

Shots: 46 - 75

Shots on target: 28 - 50

Faceoffs: 31 - 32

Blocked shots: 10 - 9

Hits: 15 - 5

Penalty minutes: 7 - 5

Referees: Vasiliev, Raming

Linesmen: Polyakov, Streltsov

25.02.2024.